Evergreen Valley College

Evergreen Valley College is a community college located on 175 acres (71 ha) in the southeastern foothills of San José, Santa Clara County, California. As of Fall 2008, more than 8,000 students from more than 70 countries were enrolled. Evergreen Valley College graduated its first class in 1975. Plans for a new college officially started nine years earlier in 1964, with the creation of the San José/Evergreen Community College District to govern the existing San José City College and what would become Evergreen Valley College. The site was purchased in 1967, the college named Evergreen Valley College in 1970, and the first two buildings completed in 1975. In recent years, bond measures allowed Evergreen Valley College to build new classrooms and labs for biological sciences and nursing education programs, a new library, a center to accommodate student life, the Montgomery Hill Observatory, and a new Visual and Performing Arts Center. In 2015, the San Jose Evergreen College Community District (SJECCD) has been moving forward to develop 27 acres of currently vacant land for private ventures. On April 14, 2015, the Board of Trustees will be reviewing bids from developers on possible private usages for this land. These developments are controversial in the view of the EVC faculty since future growth will be hamstrung by the private development which boxes in the educational portion of the campus. Local residents are similarly opposed since these developments which includes a mix of high-density housing, retail and office buildings will disturb the tranquil, bedroom community which the college resides in. Numerous grassroots organizations are lining up to oppose this development.